Another Scheduling Post

(Picture courtesy of picjumbo)

This is the time of year when readers are going to see a lot of blog posts about scheduling. It can get confusing, and may have you second-guessing whether or not the way you schedule your students is the best. 

How do you decide? The answer may be just as confusing, because there really is no answer. You have to figure out what way works for you. The 2 best ways that I've found are:

1) Give the teachers a grid with the available times and have them place a 1, 2, and 3 in the time slot that indicates the 3 best times for their students to be out of the room. The SLPs in my system who are using this are trying out google forms this year to alleviate the paper useage. 

2) Give the teachers a grid with the available times and have them "x" out the times that the students are not available. 

There isn't 1 way that's fool-proof. I've tried it both ways, and #2 works better for me right now. Even as I say that, I'm having a bit of frustration this year due to added "unstructured" and "structured" recess requirements. I'm getting forms back with the teachers writing their schedules in the spaces, even after I've made it clear I only want an "x" placed in the times. I don't want to know what their schedules are; I only want to know when I can schedule the students. I stand by what I've been saying for years: The teachers are the ones who know when it's okay for their students to be out of the room. I can't make that determination, and I don't want to have that responsibility.

If you're a new SLP just starting out, don't be scared of scheduling. It may take you a few years of trying different ways to schedule. You may have to take a few ideas, mix them up, and come up with your own way to do it. What works for me may not work for you. There's no easy answer, unfortunately. It's going to take trial and error, and your own creativity. And when you find it, let me know; I'm always looking for better, easier ways to schedule!